Egyptian cobra

The snake is a young Egyptian cobra, coiled into a tight bundle.

A third victim, a boy, was struck by a snake charmer’s Egyptian cobra.

After the Egyptian cobra, which was part of Mr. Ghafouri’s act, sank its fangs into his right wrist, he tied a cloth around his arm to stanch the flow of blood.

The piece is obscurely titled “Uraeus,” referencing the upright form of the Egyptian cobra associated with the serpent goddess Wadjet and used as a symbol of power on the crowns of the pharaohs.

In fact, that “serpent of old Nile” — Shakespeare’s phrase — probably used Egyptian cobra venom, possibly secreted in a hollow bodkin that she carried wound in her hair.